Three Scenes From A Near Ending of the World
by rare-fandom
Summary: Three missing scene pieces from Book Of Night With Moon, told from Tom's point of view.


**Disclaimer:** Diane Duane is the creator and Power that Be in this universe, and all the characters belong to her. I've just borrowed them to have a bit of fun, and I thank her for letting me. 

**Scene 1**

He senses it around five thirty, New York time (his watch can always be switched to show the time in New York, thanks to a little wizardry of Carl's design), a sense of missing that he can brush off as that age old traveler's fear that they've forgotten something.

The second he steps foot on the Grand Central concrete, that sense expands to include a dull coldness in his chest, a feeling that he's surprised to realize is greatly close to the feeling of being slightly hollow.

Saash comes running, slowing as she reaches him with what Tom could swear was confusion. She blinks up at him for an instant, than itches at her ear. Tom sets his duffle on the floor, is bending to be closer to her level when she abruptly stops to ask if he's heard anything from Carl.

He shakes his head (he _hates _these conventions sometimes, the being out of the loop while his partner deals with everything alone), and Saash is slipping around him and swiping a paw at the space where the gate was. Another minute, and she turns back to look at him. He's not as good at reading cat expressions as he is dog's, but he can easily read the concern on her face.

_Try contacting him_ she requests. Nervous now, he reaches out mentally for his partner, is startled when the coldness in his chest grows more profound as his mind comes up against a block not unlike the one when you know you know an answer but can't think of it right this second.

_Saash, what's going on? What happened to Carl? _

She replies with three words that scare him more than any other probably has.

_I don't know._

It takes 20 minutes to mobilize a search, starting with the local city advisories and working on up. He doesn't call Kit or Nita, as he knows Carl would show up with a normal search spell if he were with them.

Saash asks if he thinks Carl could be dead, and he tells her he doesn't think so. He feels cold and hollow and scared and worried, but not in pain or completely cut off like he thinks he would if Carl were completely gone.

He knows that what the cats are saying about having a gate team equipped to stay donwnside long enough to follow Carl's trail is more useful than simply sending them in while the trail is fresh. He knows even before he opens his manual that as the only remaining senior for this area he won't be allowed to join the party.

That doesn't mean he hates it any less. 

**Scene 2 **

The dogs meet him on the walk to the front door, welcoming him home and wondering where everybody is and why nobody's been home to feed them in a loud cacophony of barks and yips. They quiet after a second or two, seating themselves on the pavement while they stare up at him in mild confusion.

Monty wants to go after Carl as soon as Tom explains, racing off towards the backyard with what sounds like a growl in his throat. Annie heads him off, and with a snap of her jaws and a sharp statement in Cyene she gets him turned around and the two trot back to where Tom is standing. Shaking off a few rather unworthy thoughts (if he hadn't come home tonight, how long would it have been before someone noticed Carl was gone? In a day or two when the dogs wondered over to the Rodriguezs looking for food?) he allows them to lead him inside to the kitchen. He fills bowls with kibble and fixes himself a sandwich that he doesn't really feel like eating. He notices them watching him wearily as they devour their belated meal, and so he takes it outside so he can drop food in the koi pond.

He doesn't unpack. Instead he takes off his shoes and belt, empties his pockets, and crawls into bed. The dogs crawl in with him, warm furry bodies that snuggle up to him on all sides. It takes a moment for his foggy brain to recognize the gesture as not just the seeking and providing of comfort but also the pack animal instinct to close rank, and he might have laughed if he wasn't staring right into Annie's serious face, complete with drooping ears and somber brown eyes.

He doesn't expect to sleep, but he does figure the best thing he can do right now is to get some rest. And try not to think about what he's going to do if he spent the last few days of Carl's life half way around the world at a convention. 

**Scene 3**

Suddenly the matrix shifts, a force poking at it from the other side. This time, however, the signature is one he would recognize anywhere.

"Carl"

It isn't until the wizards sitting around him look up that he realizes his lips spoke it at the same time as his mind. Their excited murmurs are drowned out by the voice that answers in his head.

_Tom! Finally! Is everything okay on that side? What happened? _

It's like slipping on a favorite, comfortable t-shirt, hearing that voice. It almost seems to slide out of his mind and down to his chest, making him feel warm and whole for the first time in days.

_Things are under control over here. For now. Can you get back through the gates at this time?_

_Yes _he replies, and Tom can feel the relief as well as hear it in his voice (and oh, isn't that a wonderful thing).

_Then put in your coordinates, _he replies, smiling for what feels like (and probably is) the first time in days, _and come on home. _

And not too much later, Carl does. He comes through the gate pale, with a blue tinge to his lips and a layer of stubble covering his jaw line. His suit is wrinkled, his hair disheveled, and the tip of his tie is hanging out of his left pants pocket.

Tom thinks he's the most beautiful sight he's ever seen.

One of the other wizards has a razor and shaving cream in his backpack, which Carl disappears into a nearby restroom with. To stop the other wizards from hovering Tom hands one his wallet and sends him off for a Ruben and bag of chips from one of the delis and a cappuccino from the coffee shop Carl usually stops at during the week. He can feel Carl make a face, and then request hot chocolate.

They figure if Carl is home, then that means the cats must have succeeded in their goal.

Carl wants to wait till they get back. Tom is going to stay with him.

Most of the other wizards want to stay as well, but Tom pulls rank and sends them home. Most of them probably need as much sleep as he does, and they look it. He returns from seeing the last one off to find Carl seated at one of the small tables that litter the strip of restaurants. He's paging through the précis, an unreadable look on his face. Tom reaches over and puts a hand over the words, leaves it there until Carl looks up at him.

_I'll stop feeling guilty about not being here when you were taken if you stop worrying about not being here when your kidnapper was wreaking havoc._

He says it mind to mind, and earns a soft smile and the closing of the book.

Carl will read the accounts later, he knows, just as he will spend time over Carl's record of what happened while he was stuck on that faraway star. And then they will move on to the next adventure, because that is what they do.

With the book closed Carl props his elbow on the table and rests his chin on his hand, studying Tom with those clear grey eyes.

"Well, now that you've saved the world yet again, what do you plan to do now?"

"I'm going to take you home and sleep with you."

Carl raises an eyebrow at him. Tom rolls his eyes.

"Well yes, that too, but later, when I can appreciate you properly and not fall asleep in the middle of it. Right now I'm looking forward to having you beside me while I get some semblance of a good night's rest."

He reaches over to take Carl's hand, winces when he feels how cold it still is, and makes his partner give him both hands to rub between his.

"The bed's been a bit big lately."

"When either of us have been in it lately, yeah."

Tom's answer to that is to let go of his partner's hands and lean across the table, elbows resting in the middle, to take his partner's face between his hands and press their lips together. Carl's lips curve under his for a second, and then he too is leaning forward, hand coming up to rest on Tom's arms as he kisses back.


End file.
